


1,000 words

by Raviolli



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breakups, Bullying, Eventual Fluff, Eventual relationship, Falling Out of Love, Fights, High School, Homophobic Language, Jealousy, M/M, Multi, Parental Problems, Parties, Popular Kid Kuroo, Sadness, Transfer Student Kenma, Underage Drinking, background ships, bad guy Oikawa I'm so sorry baby, middle school friends, mother duck yaku (this will make sense later), nerd x cool kid AU, will add more as i go along - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-18
Packaged: 2018-03-30 22:52:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3954898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raviolli/pseuds/Raviolli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kozume Kenma is the stereotypical 'Nerd' at his new highschool. A transfer student from a faraway school. Insert Kuroo Tetsurou, the stereotypical 'Popular kid'. Put the two together for a group project and... How are you supposed to finish a project with someone in and abusive relationship, and the other too physically exhausted to care? This leads to forced friendship, breakups, underage drinking, bullying, and a hell lot of figuring things out for Kozume Kenma.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. From the beginning

**Author's Note:**

> plot:  
> highschool au. kuroo is the 'talk' at the highschool. kenma and kuroo have known eachother since kindergarden, but had fallen out in a massive fight during middle school. insert kuroo, with his boyfriend tsukki. they are known as explosive relationship. fights, yelling, makeouts. sometimes abusive. insert kenma, the 'nerd.' he's beaten up, and hardly pays attention outside of classes. he's seen playing games. he often comes home with wounds, nosebleeds, and black eyes. he has very few friends, and is often seen alone. they are chosen as a group to do a school project together. what does this lead to? so much sexual tension. so much. one boy who hardly does any work because of his relationship, an another whose too physically exhausted to try. eventual (forced) friendship, yelling about kurotsukki, breakups, tears, alcohol, boyfriends. and angst. much angst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kozume Kenma is the stereotypical 'Nerd' at his new highschool. A transfer student from a faraway school. Insert Kuroo Tetsurou, the stereotypical 'Popular kid'. Put the two together for a group project and... How are you supposed to finish a project with someone in and abusive relationship, and the other too physically exhausted to care? This leads to forced friendship, breakups, underage drinking, bullying, and a hell lot of figuring things out for Kozume Kenma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot:  
> highschool au. kuroo is the 'talk' at the highschool. kenma and kuroo have known eachother since kindergarden, but had fallen out in a massive fight during middle school. insert kuroo, with his boyfriend tsukki. they are known as explosive relationship. fights, yelling, makeouts. sometimes abusive. insert kenma, the 'nerd.' he's beaten up, and hardly pays attention outside of classes. he's seen playing games. he often comes home with wounds, nosebleeds, and black eyes. he has very few friends, and is often seen alone. they are chosen as a group to do a school project together. what does this lead to? so much sexual tension. so much. one boy who hardly does any work because of his relationship, an another whose too physically exhausted to try. eventual (forced) friendship, yelling about kurotsukki, breakups, tears, alcohol, boyfriends. and angst. much angst

1,000 words. 

He eyed the screen, dragging a hand though his blonde-dyed hair. The dye was slightly fading, the roots turning a dark brown. Re-dye. Another thing to add to the growing list of teenage problems.

He began to type again, dragging his attention back to the screen of his laptop. Only 1,000 words. Kenma was flat on his stomach, typing through the darkness with the little light his screen provided. He rolled over on his bed, pressing a hand to his forehead. The dim brightness shone in the dark room, and he checked the time with little interest. 11:09, the clock on his wall read. It was late, but he needed to finish this essay. It was his fault for procrastinating, anyway. 3,000 words was the limit for the first research essay in his new high school. The English teacher-- whose name Kenma did not care to remember-- decided the first project would be 'easy'. He turned back over, placing his hand on the keys. The topic did slightly interest him, being 'Social Media and it's Effect on the World'. His words were quick, obviously rushed, as he went through his pages of notes, pasting them together to something that somewhat resembled a research paper. 

He sighed, looking over the writing with a blank stare. He checked, twice, three times. It seemed alright. He would pass, being a transfer student. He rubbed the skin near his temples, a headache threatening to break into the scene. The teachers would probably go easy on him, if he tried hard enough. His eyes flitted downwards, checking the word count. 2,890. He groaned, cursing under his breath. He scrolled through the text, trying to find somewhere to fit another word or two. No use. He closed his eyes, plastering his face onto the keys as his head thumped with his heart. There goes the headache. An idea popped into his mind as he lay there for a few moments, rising before typing in the same words over and over again at the edge of his essay. 'Please do not fail please do not fail please do not fail.' and so on and so on. He mentally punched himself for slacking before he highlighted the words and... colored them white. There you go. Kenma, the high-class transfer student was cheating his way around work. 

He stared at the screen. 3,024 words. Great. He cringed at his blaring headache, saving the paper onto his flash drive before tossing his laptop in it's bag, and falling face first into his covers. This was going to be a first week of hell. Kenma fell asleep with that one thought.

\--

His eyes blinked open, light from the morning filing in through the blinds. He rolled over, attempting to pull the covers over his head. Anything but today. A few minutes later, Kenma rolled out of bed, his face screwing up as he stared at the clothes he slept in. Gross. He ripped off his clothes, jumping in the shower and immediately realizing his mistake as icy-cold water hit his back. He cursed, attempting to crank the heat to no avail. More things to add to that list of problems.

Kenma stepped out from the shower, staring at himself in the mirror. He looked pitiful, almost like the walking dead. Dark circles lined his eyes, and his frame was thin and bony. A great first impression. He spun around, towel-drying his hair and attempting to stay away as he stumbled out of the bathroom connected to his room. He rubbed his eyes, pinning a towel to his lower half as he eyed his room. The same band posters from middle school were still hung up. Normal ones, popular bands. He faintly recognized Fall Out Boy, and turned to the other posters littering the ceiling. Most were of games, Call of Duty, and any other first-person shooter, really. He studied the few others, which he recognized as adventure games. His eyes followed the trail of posters around the room before he stopped on one.

Kill me now. Kenma idled at the poster, pushing his hair from his face. His most-hated game. The ultimate worst. The most addicting. Dark Souls II. He murmured to himself, turning away from the hated poster and actually putting some clothes on. He retreated back to the bathroom, fixing his button-up and jeans, and brushing his hair flat against his head. He squinted, searching the counter top for his contacts. After putting them in, he stared at himself in the mirror, looking a bit better than he had before. He shoved his phone in his pockets, checking the time before trotting out of the bathroom, through his room and the hallway that lead through his house.

He slowed himself to a halt as he paused in the kitchen, grabbing an apple before heading for the door of his one-story house. He lived far enough from the school that he was required to take the bus if he couldn't drive. Kenma stopped at the door, turning and waving to his mom chatting animatedly on the phone. ``Bye, mom,`` He spoke, staring at her. She paused in conversation, giving him only a fleeting glance before starting up whatever conversation she was talking about yet again. With a heavy sigh, he stepped out of the house, slamming the door behind him. He shoved his hands in his pockets, trekking to the bus stop at the end of the street. He had grabbed his laptop case and backpack before he had stepped out, and the weight was pushing down on his shoulders.

Kids. Lots of them. Kenma sighed at the amount of students lined up at the stop, chatting an making jokes with each other as they waited for the same bus. He snapped from his thoughts at a bird tweeting loudly from a branch a few feet away. The warm, late-spring air was probably good for the sleep-deprived Kenma. He made his way over, standing a few feet behind the others. A faint meowing came from the bushes along the sidewalk, and kenma gave up studying the students, searching the bushes for the noise. He stuck his hand out, softly tsking as he spotted a cat-- seemingly a kitten-- in the bushes. It mewed, padding cautiously out to his hand. The kitten was black, with stunning yellow eyes. Kenma brushed his finger's over it's head. He hummed softly, scratching the feline behind the ears as he thought of a name. He faintly remembered some Japanese from his dad, who had moved to America and married his mother. Kiiro, Kenma thought after a moment. Yellow would be a good name for him, and he found himself lost in the cat's pretty eyes, the edges of his mouth tilting up as he brushed the cat with his hand. 

He knew it was coming. The moment he stepped there on the first day at the new school. He brushed the cats ears as he tried to ignore the students' remarks.  
"Hey, look! The middle schoolers back!" One sneered.  
"Yeah! Hey, what's your problem, look at us!"  
"You're not special just because you transferred!" 

Kiiro spooked, diving into the bushes as one of them approached Kenma.  
"What? Is that cat your only friend?"  
Kenma slowly stood up, not making eye contact with his pursuer. He already knew the face, him and his team had been harassing him ever since he transferred three days ago. Oikawa Tooru was his name. The cliché 'bully' in every movie he had ever seen.

Brushing his hands off on his pants, he walked over to the stop, leaning against the sign with an old, craggily-looking bus painted on. But to his luck, Tooru followed. "What's wrong? Little bitch going crying to his mo-"  
"Oikawa!" A voice screamed, and he faintly recognized Tooru's pursuer, Iwaizumi Hajime.  
"Eek! Erm- I-Iwa-" Tooru startled, shrinking back at the man charging towards them. His yelling only got louder, as he charged and straight up head butted Tooru. Kenma would feel sorry for him if it wasn't for the situation. 

This was a normal pattern. Tooru would sputter apologies, promising to never do it again. Then, after the bell rang Tooru and anyone else he could rile up would 'make up for it', evidentially beating Kenma up. His eyes flicked to Tooru, almost to the point of begging on his knees, a pathetic-looking nosebleed on his face. The morning seemed to drag on as the boy with the dyed hair waited for the bus to arrive. He swore he never felt so happy at the sight of the yellow automobile, clambering on and sitting in the last seat, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and into the space next to him, just for anyone with ideas. 

Yeah, Kenma recalled, this was one hell of a week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feedback is lovingly appreciated!


	2. Greetings, Memories.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo is met with some memories that were forgotten; as well as some he didn't want to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay super quick chapter 
> 
> i just really wanted to get this story on the move
> 
> Q:  
> Should I make the chapters longer?

''Yo!" The boy called. 

Kuroo squinted, sighting someone running up to him. He stopped himself at the entrance to the school, recognizing the colossal idiot, otherwise known as Haiba Lev. Though he much hated to admit it, he actually enjoyed Lev's company. It's also quite funny to watch him make mistakes. He thought, chuckling under his breath. And the faces he makes. He would've sworn he was a middle schooler if he wasn't, like, seven-foot tall. 

Looking a bit closer, he noticed Yaku Morisuke, Lev's best friend, trailing behind him. He could tell the shorter boy was throwing remarks at Lev's large demeanor. 

Lev and Yaku waved at Kuroo, stopping beside him at the doors of the three-story brick building. 

"Did you run here again?" Yaku paused, looking to Kuroo.

''Yeah, does it matter?'' He huffed, dragging a hand through his bangs.

''Dude, you should take the bus sometime. It get's kinda' obnoxious sitting next to Lev for a whole semester.''

He laughed at that, throwing his head back. ''I don't suppose he's gotten into any trouble with you flanking him, though,'' Kuroo remarked, eyeing the two smugly. 

After a blushing Yaku and Lev broke off into their own conversation, Kuroo opted for looking around the outside of the school. It was early, and not many students had arrived. 

His eyes landed on a group of girls, presumably freshmans, giggling to eachother. He raised a hand, flashing them a smile with one hand in his hair. 

He had been called obnoxious for his choice of hair, But hey, Kuroo smirked, If it attracts people, He's doin' something right. 

The girls broke off into fits of giggles, blushing and waving back to Kuroo. Mission accomplished. 

Losing interest in the girls, Kuroo soon found himself better fit to putting headphones in, and blasting rock music as he waited for those hated doors to open. Hey, Kuroo reminded himself, Only a few more weeks of school. Whoop-dee-doo.

The bus rolled up the curb, squeaking to a halt at the entrance. Honestly, Kuroo wasn't sure how it didn't break down by now. The doors opened, and he watched the flood of familiar faces race off the bus, heading to their friends or standing alone with their phones. He checked his watch, the time was early, still a few minutes before the doors opened.

He continued scanning the faces, recognizing a few as he listed them off. Oikawa and Iwaizumi, Kiyoko Shimizu, some others. Kuroo's blaring yellow eyes stopped on one. He stared at the kid's yellow hair, with dark brown roots at the top. He chuckled to himself, mentally naming the kid as 'Pudding'. The boy's hair was almost down to his shoulders, and he didn't look up from his phone as he stepped down from the bus.

He continued watching the new face. He was surprisingly shorter than Kuroo would have guessed. He was standing next to some of the Sophomores, barely reaching their shoulders. If he didn't know better, he would've thought the guy as a middle schooler, because of his height and child-like features. 

Kuroo Paused, thinking for a moment. Nope, not possible. This kid could not be shorter than Shouyou. No way! 

He tried to size up the two. He paused, placing a hand to his forehead. Why did it matter, anyway? Good, good. A transfer student. He seemed absorbed in his own world. Kuroo eyed him again. Probably with a rich, stuck-up family. He faintly remembered seeing the kid in a few of his classes. He wasn't exactly hard to miss.

With his hands in his pockets, Kuroo dragged his eyes away from the boy. By lunch, he'd have forgotten all about him. He trailed behind Yaku and Lev talking like two moms at a dinner party, soon parting ways with the pair to throw his stuff in his locker. Locker number 178. Always the same. Every year.

He glaced to his side, noticing someone stalking up to him. Opening his mouth to ask the stranger what they wanted, he recognized the hair. Pudding-head, from the bus. He sighed, staring at him. The boy didn't once look up, and he started to get on Kuroo's nerves. He clenched his teeth, staring down the boy. 

The boy glanced up, pausing for a moment and blinking owlishly at Kuroo, then returning to his game. 

''What do you want from me, kid?''

The 'kid' shoved his phones in his pocket, looking up and staring down Kuroo just as coldly, if not more. 

''I want you to move, so I can put my stuff in the locker,'' He spoke, clutching his backpack and turning to the locker Kuroo was leaning on. 179. Great. How had he never noticed this kid? 

Pudding-head spoke to him in such a tone he was almost frightened of the boy. He stopped clenching his teeth, watching as the other student threw his stuff in the locker, grabbing his books for the first class, Calculus, probably, Kuroo noted from the writing on the book. 

As the other boy turned to leave, he slammed his arm on the locker above him. This caused him to turn around, staring at Kuroo. ''What?''

''Who are you?'' Kuroo's eyes dilated, making him look much like a cat.

He began to walk away again, before he glanced slightly behind him, speaking in a way that was so strangely familiar, but oddly different. ''No one important, Tetsurou.''

Kuroo was startled enough at the mention of his name. Rarely did someone use his name like that, and he stared after the strange guy, his jaw slack. 

This was sure one interesting day. 

His first and second classes passed fine, and he settled down for Third Period Lunch. Lev, Yaku, and a few others waved at him. He raised a hand in greeting, padding over to the vending machine to grab a soda. He opted for pizza, grabbing his tray and food, making his way over to the noisy table. 

He sat heavily on the plastic chairs around the table, digging into his pizza. The table was loud, with possibly the most well-known kids in school. Kuroo, being one of them. He was known as the 'one-night-stand' guy of the group, popular for his many flings. 

He dragged a hand though out his hair, patting down the side of his bangs. Pudding-head really irked Kuroo. 

Well, so much for forgetting about that guy. 

''Ello, Kuroo~'' Tooru spoke in a sing-song voice, sitting next to Kuroo, Iwaizumi following shortly behind. 

Kuroo dipped his head in greeting, leaning back and crossing his arms.

''Oh no, what's got Mr. Smug down?'' Tooru leaned forward, poking at Kuroo's cheeks.

He smirked, flicking Tooru between his eyes. ''Just someone. They've been getting on my nerves. Probably the only one annoy me in years,'' He grumbled ''Seriously.'' 

After Tooru's insistent pleading, Iwaizumi smacked him on the head, earning a sorry and a quiet Oikawa. 

They broke up into their own worlds, chatting and laughing, which left Kuroo to his own thoughts. 

The strange, pudding-haired boy immediately flooded his mind, and he groaned, just wanting to forget him. Kuroo ate his pizza, nodding and chuckling to comments when his friend group tried to include him in conversations. 

After what seemed like a painstakingly-long lunch, Kuroo decided he'd be better off elsewhere. He soon got up and left, leaving his friends chatting somewhere behind him. He trotted up the stairs to his English class, 4th Period, his bright red backpack slung over one shoulder. He took two steps at a time, arriving at the room early. Taking his place in the back, he sat in the last row, by the window. 

The students slowly filed in, waving to each other and taking their seats as they waited for the teacher.

His eyes flicked around the room. Every seat was taken, except one. The seat placed right in front of Kuroo. He looked around for anyone without a seat, and was left confused. Kuroo decided to forget about it, grabbing his half-assed paper due for the class. 

When he looked back up, Kuroo almost slammed his face into his desk. 

There he was, pudding-head and all. Sitting right in front of him, chewing a piece of gum as he played his phone under the table. Kuroo stared him down, groaning mentally. He really didn't know what this kid did wrong, he just really got on his nerves. 

He definitely wanted to find out what was wrong with this guy.

But first, the name. 

He tapped the boy on the shoulder, causing him to look up and turn around. It only lasted a few moment's before he looked back down at his game.

Kuroo gritted his teeth for the umpteenth time that day. ''Hey, what's your problem?'' He began ''It's like, an honor or something for me to be talkin' to you. My name goes around.'' He twirled a pen around his fingers.

''I know who you are, Kuroo,'' The student sitting in front of him spoke, not looking up from whatever was so interesting on his phone. 

''Bullshit. You've heard rumors.''

''I know who you are, Kuroo,'' The boy replied, slightly louder.

Kuroo huffed, leaning over on his desk. A few dark hairs fell in front of Kuroo's eyes, and he glared at the other student. 

''Who are you, anyway?'' Kuroo hummed, opting for the kid to look at him.

''No one important,'' He answered, like earlier that morning. 

''Just a name?'' He grinned, speaking in a sing-song voice.

''No.''

''Wow, nice. I'm-'' 

''I know who you are.''

''Yeah, we got that established. I wanna know who you are. It /is/ only manners,'' Kuroo sneered.

"No."

"Wow, rude," Kuroo's nostrils flared. He gave up trying to reason with pudding-head, eyes snapping forward as the teacher called for the class--English to be exact--to start. 

"Alright, class. You'll be turning in your papers that I assigned earlier this week! This is an assessment, but it still counts towards your grades!..."

Kuroo's attention wandered as the teacher collected the pile of papers off of students' desks. 

Staring out the window, he studied the trees-- which were in full bloom-- carefully. Only when he heard the words 'group' and 'Kuroo' did he look back up.

"...The last group for this semester's project will be Kuroo Tetsurou and.. Kozume Kenma."

A foul taste hit his tongue. He knew that name. Kenma. It was as familiar as the chair he sat in. 

He knew this kid. 

Kozume Kenma, Kuroo's middle school best friend. They had done anything together. Though Kenma rarely spoke, Kuroo could see through his cold façade. They were inseparable, the strongest pair. No bullies would stand against them, no fights. The baddest seventh graders on the block.

That was, until that day.

\---  
Three years ago, to this day.

"Kuroo Tetsurou, Kozume Kenma, best friends forever!!!!!!!" 

At least, that's what the paper had read. Kuroo grinned at the large array of exclamation points, slapping Kenma on the back. This earned a choking Kenma, spitting the juice he was drinking all over the desk.

"Why did I ever become your best friend again?" Kenma spoke--quietly, but his mouth tugged, as if he was struggling to hold back a smile. "Also, why isn't my name first?"

"Because I am obviously the best," Kuroo boasted, laughing and prodding at Kenma. 

"More like the worst," Added Kenma, chuckling under his breath. Kenma drew his hand up, brushing his own dark brown hairs out of his face. 

He began doodling on the paper that proclaimed their friendship in very,very bright bubble letters. 

He doodled Kuroo's hair. Though he often called it stupid, it actually looked kind of cool. According to Kenma. 

Kuroo stuck his tongue out as he drew, drawing something that resembled a cat in the rear corner of the construction paper. 

A voice screamed his name from outside, and Kuroo looked up from doodling his second cat. 

The boy waved him over, and the raven-haired boy stood to follow. He took a step toward the door, wanting to chase after his friend.

But, something stopped him. 

A hand on his sleeve, and Kenma looking at him. Not a quick glance, Kenma actually *looking* at him.

He shooed Kenma's hand away, staring at the other grade school student with a look of confusion on his childlike features.

"Yeah, Kenma? I was just gonna' go outside with the others. Football or something, yknow?"

"You did that last time, Kuroo."

Kuroo shrugged, taking another step toward the door.

"You haven't finished your drawing, you promised-"

"Jeez! Calm down, Ken. What are you, on your period or something?" Kuroo sneered at the other boy. "It's just football, calm your tits."

"Kuroo, I wanted I spend time with you-"

"You always do-"

"Not anymore!" Kenma started to raise his voice, staring straight at Kuroo. At the time, Kenma was taller that Kuroo, and he used that to his advantage. "You're always 'hanging out' with them! Maybe I just wanna do something with you just, like, once?!"

"It's not like I'm obliged to following you around like a stupid dog!" Kuroo shot back. 

"I never said that! Can you just listen to me for once?!" Kenma's voice cracked. 

"I always listen to you! Just let me spend some time with my god damned friends, okay?!"

"Kuroo! That's not what it's about!"

"What is it about, then? Huh?!" Kuroo yelled, clenching his fists at his sides. "Just because you're a little bitch who can't be by her one for one minute doesn't mean-" 

"I'm the bitch!? Kuroo! I just wanted to spend time with my best friend, before-"

"Before you go cryin' to your momma? Boo-hoo, momma won't help you, Ken!"

Kenma faltered, tears rimming his eyes. "Do not bring up my mother!" He choked out "You, you bastard! I'm not the one with daddy issues!"

Kenma could've sworn the world was in slow motion. Everything was. The way Kuroo slowly crumpled.

The fist aimed for his head.

Kenma didn't feel any pain when Kuroo's knuckles smashed into his cheek, then his nose, sending the boy toppling over. 

He didn't cry, he just looked up at Kuroo. He was crying now, his shoulders heaving in anger. 

Kenma placed a hand on his cheek, using an elbow to prop himself up.

"I'm moving to Japan, Kuroo."

He couldn't see Kuroo's reaction before students came flooding in, some yelling for the teacher at the blood streaming down Kenma's face. He wiped his nose, smearing some of the blood. 

He heard the teacher screaming at Kuroo,

He heard the people crowing him, saying soft words, leading him away. 

But, overall, the one thought Kenma had was:

That cat was never finished. 

\--

 

Kuroo froze in his seat, staring at the students in the classroom meeting up with their partners.

Turning slowly, his eyes locked on one person.

One person he hadn't seen in three years. 

Kozume Kenma.

Kenma turned slowly, looking at Kuroo. 

He's back.

Kenma's back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feedback is my life pls i NEEED it

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic!! Feedback is lovingly appreciated!


End file.
